


Air

by stellations



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-05-13 02:00:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5690299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellations/pseuds/stellations
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Annie needs air. Prim provides support.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Air

Air.

Annie had needed it. Prim could tell. The way she looked frantically around, her eyes darting through the room, not around, told Prim everything she needed to know. So Prim had asked her to come on a short walk. Maybe together they could make something of the stale air deep within Thirteen. 

It wasn’t as easy now, after the bombing. Before it, Prim could have taken Annie up to the Everdeens’ room and opened the little window they had for Buttercup to give her some actual, real fresh air. Now, it was a matter of walking, of finding the little places that Katniss liked to hide in because they saw fewer people. 

Fewer people to look at her funny, fewer people to shy away. 

Fewer people to make Thirteen look like a madhouse instead of their only safe haven.

Prim could feel a breeze down one hallway, so she quickly turned Annie in that direction, picking up Buttercup on the way. The cat had long ago accepted the older girl and had taken to keeping her company while Prim was busy. Prim liked that.

Now seemed to hold very little change, as Annie scratched the top of the cat’s head. Her smile was small and it wavered horribly, like she was on the edge of falling straight over and into a whirlpool, but at this point Prim was willing to take what she could get. 

They stopped halfway down the hall. No one was around and they could still feel the breeze. There Prim took a seat, cradling Buttercup in her lap. Annie slowly followed suit, once she was sure the area was secure. She wasn’t as typical about it as Katniss or Finnick, but Prim had noticed that Annie kept as close an eye on her surroundings as she could. It was a Victor thing, born of the Hunger Games, something Prim had recognized in her sister very early on. 

Nothing needed to be said. Annie was still on the edge of that precipice and the last thing Prim wanted was to shove her over, even accidentally. Buttercup pawed between them as silently as a shadow, seeming to know that Annie needed something happy, something nice. 

“I feel buried,” Annie finally spoke, her voice trembling as badly as her smile had earlier. “Like there’s no air. Like I’m choking.”

“Sometimes, I do, too,” Prim admitted softly, focusing on the hand stroking across Buttercup’s fluffy back. “That’s when I try to do something, be helpful. Or, if I can’t, I find Buttercup.” She paused, glancing at Annie with kindness and compassion in her eyes. “You can always find Buttercup and hold him if you need to. He’s always been my protector, but there’s no reason he can’t be yours, too.”

That way, when Prim and Finnick and Katniss were off doing their respective duties, Annie wouldn’t be alone. 

This seemed to please her. The smile on her face grew slightly in confidence and she nodded once. 

“Thank you,” Annie whispered. 

“You’re welcome, Annie,” Prim replied, laying a hand over Annie’s where it rested across Buttercup’s back. “You’re my friend, too, and I want to help.”

That seemed to be the final push Annie needed. As soon as Prim noticed the trail blooming across the girl’s cheeks, she nudged Buttercup into Annie’s lap. There they sat, until Buttercup had fallen asleep and Annie had long since abandoned her tears for smiles.


End file.
